"The Wide, Wide World"

Reading “The Wide, Wide World” really took me back to my childhood and reminded me of how thankful I am of my wonderful parents and the relationship that I have with them. Parents play a huge part in a child’s life. I remember the days I went to summer camp for two weeks and how home sick I would get the first couple of nights because I missed my parents so much. The role of “a parent” is extremely important. The way parents decide to raise a child influences the rest of a child’s life. As we discussed last week, children are very vulnerable and don’t really understand the world as an adult does; it is “a parents” responsibility to guide a child through life.

As the text points out the different roles of a mother and father, the same was true for my childhood, but quite different. Ellen’s mother was the dearest thing to her life; her mother was someone she loved more than anyone or anything. There was nothing in the world that could replace her mother and the relationship she had. Ellen’s father was not around so much. Ellen loved her father but not like she loved her mother. In the 19^th century, I feel the role of a father was to work and bring home income for the family whereas a mother is to stay home, raise the children, and keep the house in order.

Ellen perceives her mother as the most delicate and loving thing on earth. Ellen would do anything for her mother. Ellen learns from her mother, and wants to be just like her mother. It is Ellen’s duty to make her mother tea and toast everyday and to show Mrs. Montegomery just how much she cares for her; she makes it as perfectly as possible. Captain Montegomery was someone Ellen loved but didn’t have the same kind of relationship with. I believe Ellen perceived the Captain as someone who was intelligent and as someone who was to provide for the family.

"The Child's Part in the Making of American Culture"

One thing that really caught my eye in “The Child’s Part in the Making of American Culture” was the poem at the very end called “To a Picture of My Mother” by the ten-year-old Harriet Appleton. I can relate to this poem because I know that sometimes I wish I could go back to being an infant because they have no worries. They just eat, sleep, and get all the attention in the world. When I first read the poem, I thought that Harriet was referring to herself. As I continued to read on, I find that she is actually talking about a baby infant that is in her mothers lap. Harriet is at envy for the lost position of the “darling little child”. She also mentions that she wishes to “protect and hint that tears, frowns, and cares of growing up are unavoidable.” I think everyone can relate to this poem because some days we have so much on our minds and can become so stressed out that we think about the simple life of an infant, having no worries at all. An infant has so much to learn and can be filled with any ideas. The story mentions children as being “hallow” and how they are vulnerable to be filled with anything that they come across. Children are not even considered “human beings” because they have so much to learn. Because of this, parents sometimes tend to live their lives through their children’s lives.

Introduction

My name is Courtney Bonner and I am from San Antonio, Texas. I am currently a junior in the Neeley School of Business here at TCU and my major is finance with a minor in accounting. I have two brothers, one older than me who has recently graduated from TCU, and the other younger who is a sophomore in high school. I love the San Antonio Spurs, the Dallas Cowboys, and TCU's football team. I have always been a big fan of sports and I love keeping up with my favorite teams!

The minute my older brother decided to come to TCU I became highly interested in coming here as well. The first time I visited, I fell in love with the people, the school, and the Fort Worth community. I can't really complain about any teachers I have had thus far. A good teacher is one who is personable, interesting, fun, and different. I have enjoyed most all of my classmates as well. I believe a good student is someone who is friendly, encouraging, and willing to get to know others.

I am looking forward to getting to know everyone through this course, in the classroom and through blogging. This is my first time to create a personal blog so I'm excited to see what it brings me! I am also eager to learn more about Major American Writers and read the various stories from these writers. I am enrolled in this class to get my last core credit out of the way but I picked this of all other literature courses because it appealed to me the most. The course description sounded very interesting and I could use a bit more knowledge on major American Writers. I am looking forward to becoming more familiar with writers such as Twain, Alcott, and Cummins.

Other than books and reading assignments from different classes, I also enjoy reading during my leisure time. I am currently reading "The Shack" bye Paul Young and encourage anyone and everyone to read it; it has been a great read so far! Along with most other girls, I also loved all of the "Twilight" books.

In school, I practice mainly business writing simply because of my major and minor. I write a ton of e-mails everyday and send hundreds of text messages every week. My business writing is more formal but it is also short and to the point where as my e-mailing and text messaging is very informal, fun, and abbreviated. Writing has never been my strongest asset but it is definitely something that I have been working on to improve.

My blog is intended to be very relaxed, fun, and free for anyone to comment on! I chose the colors, fonts, and patterns intending to allow others to feel comfortable to read my blogs and comment about anything! I intend to share my feelings about the readings with all my classmates and I am excited to hear everyone else's thoughts as well. This class will be different then the four other courses I am currently enrolled in and I am excited about the relaxed atmosphere and for participating in class discussions. I hope everybody can learn a little something from me and I can't wait to learn from Mrs. Irvin and my classmates!

I have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus.